Found Deceased CO - Suzanne Morphew, 49, Chaffee Co, 10 May 2020 *Case dismissed w/o prejudice* *found in 2023* #115

[Love Never Fails]

Reading that document, I was horrified by the extent to which they were unprepared. It was so much worse than I had imagined. As the leader, you make sure everyone knows their roles, that they are fulfilling those roles, and that everyone is on the same page.

None of that happened, and I have zero confidence this team would have been successful.

So what does that do for the confidence of the new team who has to decide if they will prosecute Barry? He is clearly guilty. LS made some missteps. The one thing she did right was to drop the case, with the ability to retry. And the judge was not on her side. He got rid of the expert witnesses. I certainly feel someone should bring that up. Judges should be fair. Most aren’t anymore. A lot went wrong here. So IE can stick a feather in her cap and bank all the money she made from Barry.

 

[Love Never Fails]

My only concern is that the case is tainted. Will this make a DA shy away from the re-charge? Can they start from scratch as if the Stanley era never happened, or will they be fighting against what Stanley put out there in the public space on the first round? I would want IE on the wall for me-she was worth every penny that Barry spent-of Suzanne’s money. Hopefully another DA is willing to fight for justice for Suzanne.

Didn’t a poster here say that the new DA where Suzanne’s body was found is a friend to IE? Or maybe i had a nightmare about it. I just can’t see him getting away with this murder.

 

[MassGuy]

So what does that do for the confidence of the new team who has to decide if they will prosecute Barry? He is clearly guilty. LS made some missteps. The one thing she did right was to drop the case, with the ability to retry. And the judge was not on her side. He got rid of the expert witnesses. I certainly feel someone should bring that up. Judges should be fair. Most aren’t anymore. A lot went wrong here. So IE can stick a feather in her cap and bank all the money she made from Barry.

It'll be a totally new team with a totally new leader; hose problems were unique to Stanley's office, and he leadership. If it does anything, it will be to make sure these guys don't make the same mistakes.

 

[MassGuy]

My only concern is that the case is tainted. Will this make a DA shy away from the re-charge? Can they start from scratch as if the Stanley era never happened, or will they be fighting against what Stanley put out there in the public space on the first round? I would want IE on the wall for me-she was worth every penny that Barry spent-of Suzanne’s money. Hopefully another DA is willing to fight for justice for Suzanne.

I'm not sure if or how this case will be affected by the first prosecution, but it certainly helps that it's not the same office prosecuting it. I have no doubt this case will be revived, as all indications are that Kelley is all over it. You have a career making case, one that is infinitely stronger thanks to a body and smoking gun. There's just no way this doesn't go forward, and I think that will happen sooner rather than later.

I can't believe it'll that in 11 days, it'll be a year since she was found.

 

[Knox]

My only concern is that the case is tainted. Will this make a DA shy away from the re-charge? Can they start from scratch as if the Stanley era never happened, or will they be fighting against what Stanley put out there in the public space on the first round? I would want IE on the wall for me-she was worth every penny that Barry spent-of Suzanne’s money. Hopefully another DA is willing to fight for justice for Suzanne.

Isn’t the law supposed to be upheld based on facts and not emotionally charged rhetoric spouted by a paid defense attorney?

It really irks me that IE has so many thinking this case can’t be prosecuted. There was plenty of evidence, even before Suzanne’s remains were found to contain BAM.

IMO, it’s not a matter of whether the DA is “willing” to prosecute . A man murdered his wife, he needs to go to trial and be judged by a jury of his peers. The desire for justice should outweigh any of the swirling bullshite that engulfed this case from the beginning.

I often wonder what Suzanne’s family thinks of all this.

 

[girlhasnoname]

I believe it was divinely incredible that Suzanne's remains were found, and that another County and DA will be prosecuting BM. Chaffee had the right man and a case with LS, but the mistakes they made without the expert witnesses being qualified, the overall disorganized fashion and public statements made by LS could have meant a get out of jail free card for BM.

The case and the presentation to a jury will be much stronger now and I have no doubts BM will be found guilty. I feel better about a conviction than I did before LS dismissed without prejudice. You only get one shot at the apple.

Tick Tock...your 12 x 8 cage is awaiting you BM.


JMO

 

[GOBliaison]

The profiling evil appearances were problematic, at least the panel thought so.1

Investigating the judge based on no evidence was also an issue.2

There was also that other case where she said things she shouldn’t have on a tv news broadcast.3

To me she was just astounding incompetent.4

Reading those documents makes me realize that had this gone to trial, Barry would be forever a free man.

With respect, negatrons !
1 Morphew case substance/details ever blah-blah-ed on this PE TV appearance?
Negative, iirc.
2 Averment(s) presented to DA Stanley Office by LE personage wrt Lama et ux domestic details, which he personally observed during open judicial proceedings...not evidence warranting a deputy's knock on ex-ux's door - practically in the nature of a welfare check?
Negative.
3 Vis-a-vis CO v. Morphew, an ethics, or any issue?
Negative.
4 "Astounding...[as defined: "surprisingly impressive or notable"]... incompetence" ? Your opinion I earnestly respect.
And I'll up you one, by hypothesizing this august panel attitudinally boot-strapped "leadership deficiencies" into "wanting in ethics".
___________________
Whew! I'm through...
and most assuredly grateful for your indulgence!

These are the accounts of other prosecutors on the team; it is not a pretty picture.

Pusillanimous Pilate hand-washing. imco

 

[Love Never Fails]

Isn’t the law supposed to be upheld based on facts and not emotionally charged rhetoric spouted by a paid defense attorney?

It really irks me that IE has so many thinking this case can’t be prosecuted. There was plenty of evidence, even before Suzanne’s remains were found to contain BAM.

IMO, it’s not a matter of whether the DA is “willing” to prosecute . A man murdered his wife, he needs to go to trial and be judged by a jury of his peers. The desire for justice should outweigh any of the swirling bullshite that engulfed this case from the beginning.

I often wonder what Suzanne’s family thinks of all this.

I’m sure her family is enraged, as we all are. Yes it should go to trial. The sooner the better. I’m not sure it will though.

 

[GOBliaison]

View attachment 530369

I guess we have to wait for IE to leak the details from the 83 page disciplinary Order -- not coming up in the CSC recent decisions per the case number noted above.

Colorado

research.coloradojudicial.gov

Take heart brethren...
...as the fall from schadenfreude to moral comeuppance is precipitous and abides the misstep of the smug...
To paraphrase:

"Memento Eytan: es mortalis."​

 

[scapa]

Oh geez. Bet Iris and Barry are loving this.

Moo

Hopefully they're loving it separately, as former attorney and dumped client -- and future felon.

A bit surprised at the disbarrment, wonder whether it has any impact as a barrier to misbehaviour or chill on appropriate prosecutorial practice -- guessing that Tropical Storm Iris would be happy with either. Or both.

 

[scapa]

Lauren Scharf said Spezze is retiring as well.

Ach.

Well, hoping for happy trails for Sheriff S. Hopefully he has the satisfaction of seeing SM's murderer safely and finally behind bars before too many more Mother's Days spin by.

 

[Lyanna]

Hopefully they're loving it separately, as former attorney and dumped client -- and future felon.

A bit surprised at the disbarrment, wonder whether it has any impact as a barrier to misbehaviour or chill on appropriate prosecutorial practice -- guessing that Tropical Storm Iris would be happy with either. Or both.

She shouldn't have gone digging into Lama so can accept that as a gross misconduct issue which results in disbarrment but the prosecutorial practice stuff is a bit overkill for me. Government funded jobs where there are power plays going on, funding and resource problems which result in lack of staff are always going to produce issues - not enough worker bees to do the work effectively etc and so on. But she won't have been the only one.
What's really getting my goat though is @shotgun09 (iirc) posted an article in media, maps and timeline thread where Iris is basically saying Barry should never be prosecuted for this crime again as it would be an extension to what's happened here - unethical behaviour, even though there is evidence that he most likely murdered his wife!! Feels like passive aggressive scare tactics and I don't see how that is upholding the law, respecting victim rights, seeking justice, seeking a fair trial and so on.
If Barry is soooooo innocent, show me Iris. Show me how Barry could not possibly have done this. Prove reasonable doubt, give me another person whom can be named as having means, motive and opportunity. Why shy away from it? Give him his day in court.
We know why that won't happen though, don't we?

Moo

Ebm

 

[I am not Sherlock H.]

Reading that document, I was horrified by the extent to which they were unprepared. It was so much worse than I had imagined. As the leader, you make sure everyone knows their roles, that they are fulfilling those roles, and that everyone is on the same page.

None of that happened, and I have zero confidence this team would have been successful.

Yes MassGuy…… was thinking similarly. It seemed like a bunch of hurried missteps perhaps early. And surely glad the BM case was dismissed without prejudice, so it can be refiled. When ready. By a new team that navigates all the prior actions, filings, and court rulings.

Reflecting comparatively on this CO DA actions with those of a certain DA in Canton, MA…… seems there are some parallels? IMO maybe those officials need some better and new reschooling. And particularly on when not to talk and what not to say. Maybe it is unfortunate many of these positions are elected? IANAL but it seems best to let court filings, evidence, witnesses, and testimony do the talking.

State prosecutors and investigators have a difficult enough job without their own team or leaders running ‘foul’ or inadvertent (or perhaps deliberate) interference. IMO we need only look to the still unsolved case in Boulder, CO from Christmas 1996. SMH. In the BM case of Suzanne Morphew I shall patiently wait for next legal steps and filings. MOO

 

[Cindizzi]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1833732290830057977

Board rules DA in murder case against missing Colorado woman's husband should be disbarred

11th Judicial District DA Linda Stanley should be disbarred over multiple ethical violations in connection with the high-profile murder case of Suzanne Morphew, state regulators ruled.

www.nbcnews.com

[…]

The decision comes three months after Stanley faced a two-week disciplinary hearing before a three-member panel under the Colorado Supreme Court, at which state regulators accused her of professional misconduct. The Office of Attorney Regulation Counsel first brought the case in October. Stanley, a former police officer who was elected district attorney in November 2022, had already said she would not seek re-election.

“This is a case about a ship with a captain who never manned the bridge,” Jonathan Blasewitz, an attorney for state’s Office of Attorney Regulation Counsel, said during the hearing, according to The Colorado Sun, a news website based in Denver.

The defense attorney for Barry Morphew, husband of Suzanne Morphew, whose remains were found last year, praised the order.

[…]

 

[MonteCarlo]

Take heart brethren...
...as the fall from schadenfreude to moral comeuppance is precipitous and abides the misstep of the smug...
To paraphrase:

"Memento Eytan: es mortalis."​

non sequitur - non omnia possumus omnes

 

[Momofthreeboys]

She shouldn't have gone digging into Lama so can accept that as a gross misconduct issue which results in disbarrment but the prosecutorial practice stuff is a bit overkill for me. Government funded jobs where there are power plays going on, funding and resource problems which result in lack of staff are always going to produce issues - not enough worker bees to do the work effectively etc and so on. But she won't have been the only one.
What's really getting my goat though is @shotgun09 (iirc) posted an article in media, maps and timeline thread where Iris is basically saying Barry should never be prosecuted for this crime again as it would be an extension to what's happened here - unethical behaviour, even though there is evidence that he most likely murdered his wife!! Feels like passive aggressive scare tactics and I don't see how that is upholding the law, respecting victim rights, seeking justice, seeking a fair trial and so on.
If Barry is soooooo innocent, show me Iris. Show me how Barry could not possibly have done this. Prove reasonable doubt, give me another person whom can be named as having means, motive and opportunity. Why shy away from it? Give him his day in court.
We know why that won't happen though, don't we?

Moo

Ebm

Unfortunately the state has to prove it…never defense. Not her job. It will be the next potential prosecutor whose job will be to prove it.

 

[MassGuy]

District Attorney Linda Stanley wants to finish term after disbarment ruling, may appeal | KRDO

A live TV news station covering breaking news and traffic for Colorado Springs, Pueblo, and Southern Colorado with a strong investigative team

krdo.com

FREMONT COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) -11th Judicial District Attorney Linda Stanley and her attorney are considering appealing after the state disciplinary board ruled to disbar her in the next 35 days. Stanley, led the botched prosecution of Barry Morphew, in the murder of his wife Suzanne.

According to her attorney, despite the disbarment ruling, Stanley wants to finish her term as district attorney, which expires in January. If Stanley is disbarred, the governor will appoint someone to fill the district attorney role until the next elected district attorney, Jeff Lindsey, takes office in January.

-"We very much disagree with the conclusion that disbarment is appropriate. Ms. Stanley is a good person and ethical attorney," her attorney Steven Jensen told KRDO13 Investigates over the phone. "We think the dissenting opinion of the board member is better reasoned."

In a dissenting opinion, the dissenting judge said they believed a two-and-a-half-year suspension of Stanley's law license was more appropriate.

Jensen says they are still navigating the appeal process and determining if Stanley wants to appeal. If they file an appeal, her attorney hopes Stanley can continue practicing law until the appeal is heard. The Office of the Attorney Regulation Counsel says Stanley has the right to an appeal. However, to keep her license during an appeal she would need to file a stay and the state board would need to approve it.

Stanley's attorney noted that he was a prosecutor for 35 years and he believes the state discipline authorities have a double standard for prosecutors.

 

[windrower]

No doubt Team BM are dancing on Suzanne's grave that they got top billing in the headline for LS losing her legal career.

DA Linda Stanley to be disbarred over misconduct during Barry Morphew prosecution, state board rules

“Taken in totality, a majority of the Hearing Board concludes that these ethical violations warrant respondent’s disbarment.”

www.denverpost.com

Oh, let ‘em dance. BM’s end is coming, and this time, it will be like a freight train instead of a whimper.

Carol's story is up. Of note:

-In a striking coincidence, the man with whom Stanley announced Barry Morphew's arrest on May 5, 2021 -Chaffee County Sheriff John Spezze- announced his retirement to the county commissioners in their meeting Tuesday, saying it was the hardest decision he had ever made, and citing health reasons.

“At some point you have to listen to your body and do the right thing. It’s a tremendously hard decision,” said Spezze. “The thing that made my job easier is the relationships. For me it’s never been about politics. We may not agree on everything, but we’ve always come together to solve things … but I’ve got to take care of myself now.”

-Eytan, who now runs an organization called Protect Ethical Prosecutors, said that she filed her complaint in April 2023.

"The most egregious unethical behavior Ms. Stanley committed was violating Barry Morphew's presumption of innocence using the national and local media to make it that appear that Barry was guilty before he even set foot in a jury trial," said Eytan, adding that she is encouraged to see that the system worked.

Prosecutor in Suzanne Morphew case disbarred

Nearly two-and-a-half years after the Suzanne Morphew case was dismissed, the embattled district attorney who led the doomed Barry Morphew prosecution has been disbarred.

gazette.com

Underlined by me.

Iris! Does she really say the name of her organization with a straight face? (And PEP.?!?)

Hilarious!

(Though I’m not laughing, because SUZANNE is dead, Iris, and your client is who I think is responsible.)

IMO

 

[fcavanaugh]

As a true crime follower for decades, imo LS was out of her depth, in over her head so to speak with this high profile murder case.
IE knew it and took full advantage of the situation and threw in some dirty tricks by disparaging the victim SUZANNE, misstating facts and misleading the public about glovebox DNA belonging to a sex offender which wasn’t the case at all as we know,
it was a limited genetic material partial profile match i.e., a probable relative of the sex offender.
LE did their due diligence and ruled the glovebox DNA partial profile out. Period.
But that fact still didn’t stop IE from pontificating and misleading the public about sex offender DNA.
SMDH.

IMO IE is not only intelligent and a good at her job defense attorney, she also can play dirty as they come if she has to and will stoop to lowest of lows to get the desired outcome she wants. Ethics and morals be damned when it comes to the hurricane IE and the Morphew case, yet where is any legal oversight on her ethics or I should say, lack thereof throughout this case? Like when she claims with zero evidence that LE officials planted evidence in a household dryer and planted BAM is Suzanne’s bone marrow at autopsy?? Seriously how can she get away with that?
Who in the legal system fact checks her when she claims her team can’t open files the prosecution sent them and in the next breath claims the prosecution hasn’t turned over certain evidence? Are we just supposed to take her word for it that something wasn’t turned over by the prosecution? Honestly this goes on in a lot of cases especially high profile ones across the country lately and imo it’s a strategic tactic used by some DT’s when they are defending an indefensible client. Attack LE and the prosecution and try to get case thrown out/dismissed on technicalities when they have no defense of their client.
Giving DT benefit of the doubt, what if it’s buried somewhere in a megaton terabyte file or within thousands of pages of discovery the prosecution turned over and got missed by the DT when they were going through everything?? That doesn’t mean the prosecution never turned it over!
IANAL and don’t know what the answer is but it just seems to me there should be a better way for someone in the court system, court clerk? IOW, some neutral 3rd party that works for the court to look into and determine/prove whether something was turned over or not between the prosecution and the defense instead of just relying on defense team word they never received something/evidence that the Prosecution says/swears they turned over.

Moving on, IMO LS’s heart is in the right place with a desire and strong supporter of justice for victims, however, her seemingly shoot from the hip style/no filter (outrageous comments she made to reporter in the baby murder case)/lack of tact and diplomacy, and poor judgement about appearing on a true crime podcast show while the case was still ongoing, that all these things combined imo culminated in a total disaster for LS. Even though she didn’t release any details/specifics about the case during the PE podcast show, just the fact she agreed to appear on the show was not a good look in many case follower’s eyes for a sitting DA to appear on a YouTube true crime podcast show for any reason during pre-trial proceedings, and feel she should have waited until after the case was settled in court. IE knew the overall public perception of LS decision to go on the show was bad, took advantage of it, exaggerated it and ultimately, capitalized on it/used it to her and BM’s benefit.
LS was an easy target for IE to use to further her agenda and make an example out of which as we know she got her wish as we just learned that LS has been disbarred.

Having said all that, I further opine that I’m still not convinced it was all LS’s fault as to the missteps during the first attempt at prosecution of BM however yes as the leader of the office imo she should’ve had a better handle on things and ensuring things were getting done/deadlines were being met etc. Linda and her team imo were all in over their heads with this case for many reasons not least of which the office being short staffed and overworked with prosecutors handling way too many cases and seemingly right hand not knowing what left hand was doing half the time, poor organization, administration snafus, and LS lack of strong leadership all tolled, killed/botched the first attempt at prosecution of BM.

This high profile/voluminous evidence case imo definitely needs a lead prosecutor working solely on the case and making sure their team are organized, all on the same page and everyone completing delegated tasks timely and aggressively pursuing justice for Suzanne. I have faith that in the second go around, the 12th district will not be making the same mistakes the 11th did.

As to the rest of IE’s claims/spinning about wrongful arrest, malicious prosecution, and BM’s presumption of innocence being tainted/compromised forevermore as a result is imo complete BS, utter nonsense!

HOW is it wrongful arrest when a Judge (Murphy) found there was enough probable cause and signed the Arrest Warrant?

HOW is it malicious prosecution when after a task force/3 combined agencies of LE investigators during a one year investigation following tips and leads, ruling things out, follow all the evidence collected totality of which leads to one suspect, presents the case to the DA and DA decides there’s enough evidence to file charges against the suspect like happens every day all over the country?

HOW is BM’s presumption of innocence tainted/compromised forevermore when the court of public opinion can decide for themselves whether they think he’s guilty or innocent based on the known evidence which has absolutely zero to do with his legal right to due process and presumption of innocence in a court of law in which during voir dire any case followers or other biased for whatever reason people will be dismissed?

Sorry Iris, not everyone in the state of Colorado or the entire U.S. as you claim he could never get a fair trial due to his presumption of innocence being tainted follow, know about or ever heard of BM or this case. Stop exaggerating IE. BM is not that special and his presumption of innocence will be upheld in a court of law and non bias jury of his peers will be seated to judge him in the hopefully not too distant future.

In closing, I reiterate the evidence against BM hasn’t changed and LS knew they had the right man and though she messed up in getting there, I really believe she passionately cares about victims and wanted to bring justice for Suzanne. I wish her well in her future endeavors.


All of the above IMOO

#JUSTICEFORSUZANNE

ETA-punctuation

 

[MassGuy]

Oh, let ‘em dance. BM’s end is coming, and this time, it will be like a freight train instead of a whimper.



Underlined by me.

Iris! Does she really say the name of her organization with a straight face? (And PEP.?!?)

Hilarious!

(Though I’m not laughing, because SUZANNE is dead, Iris, and your client is who I think is responsible.)

IMO

I know, I had the same thought. How the hell she is protecting ethical prosecutors is beyond me. I hope she puts her money where her mouth is when DA Kelly charges Barry with murder. I expect to see lots of protection going on.